Hi! I recently found out about my GD too. I attended the full day course as well but I felt that it was very demoralising as the nurses were not tactful at all. As for the types of food that they recommended, i felt that it was not broad enough and they didn't show us what to look for when buying products and how to check the nutrition information. They showed us a bunch of pictures but obviously we cannot remember them right?
Also, the paper sheet they gave us with the information was not good enough. Especially for us working, sometimes its very very difficult to find such food around. Although i made an effort to pack food for my snacks and lunch, i felt it would have been better if they provided much more info.
I found this brochure that an Australia hospital provides and it is much more insightful then the one KKH provides. After reading this, i felt so much better. Here is the link:
http://kemh.health.wa.gov.au/brochures/consumers/wnhs0560.pdf
As for the nurse and doctors in that ODAC department, I don't think they understood that some of us are first time moms and we are very new to all this. Assuming that none of us goes online to understand what GA is, they should have ran through with us thoroughly about it. When I arrived at 815am and took my first blood test that morning, i didnt my sugar level was pretty high because I was fasting for too long. I had a sugar level of 8 when the average is 3 - 5. She wasn't clear to me that I had to drink milk before i sleep eventhough i wasnt hungry. I know she said to drink milk, but i presumed it was just on a daily basis, not the night b4. So my last meal day before was at 8pm hence my high sugar level. However, instead of comforting me and letting me know that we have to see how the day progresses and hopefully my blood sugar level lowers, she exclaimed "Wah, so high ah, must admit into hospital already, must insulin already". This was the first time i've heard about this, and I was shocked and scared. I didn't understand why or what what happening or what I did wrong. She didn't explain and moved on to the next mom to take the blood test. It was also pretty embarrassing on my part with all the strangers around me - having not met any of the moms before. It took my entire being to not burst out crying.
Yes, they are caring for our wellbeing and for our baby's health, but they need to be more tactful and much more comforting as first time mothers like us (who are also emotionally unstable), this is all new to us. These types of information should be broken to us in a much better way, encouraging and with empathy. They have dealt with this day in day out, it becomes second nature to them but they still have to keep in mind that this could be my first time.
Throughout the day, my sugar level was slightly higher than the average. Before food rage is 3.5 - 5.5, i would hit 5.6 - 6.5. After food rage is 5.5 - 7, I would hit 7.1 - 8.3. I want to understand from them, what is considered high, cos in my eyes, going above by .1 - 1 is acceptable, but the explanation i got from them was "High, its very high". so if going slightly above is VERY HIGH, what is 15 or 20? Super disheartening because they use scare tactics instead of sharing information. Does anyone feel the same way as me? Or am I just over reacting?
This really made me feel down the entire week until I spoke to many of my friends who shared with me their stories etc. I have been controlling what I eat and always going for the healthier option. did my grocery shopping and looked up on lots of recipes that I can make for my new diet. Hope to share it with everyone soon.